Hexie Flower Tutorial and Summertime Pouches

Today I'm blending two of my latest fascinations:

hexagons and zippered pouches!

Pop over to visit

the Bear Creek Quilting Company blog,

where I've guest-blogged in detail

about these Red, White and Blue

summertime pouches.

While you're in the neighborhood,

shop around at Bear Creek Quilting Company...

you never know what goodies you'll find there.

Besides yardage and pre-cuts,

you can order Aurafil 50-wt. threads

in any color you want.

I used a few spools of Aurafil thread

when I made my summertime pouches,

and the stitch quality was just gorgeous.

The stitching is

just as pretty on the back as the front...
a true sign of a good quality thread,
along with the right tension on my sewing machine.

I used a Honeycomb pack of Midwinter Reds

by Minick and Simpson for Moda

for two of the summertime pouches.

{Midwinter Reds really work for midsummer stuff, too!}

Would you like to see a detail of 

how to make the hexie "flower"

on the flag pouch?

{Yes, I thought you would like that!}

Start with a hexagon of any size...

mine came from a Honeycomb pre-cut,

so they are 3" on each side.

{They measure 6" from point to point, according to the package.  That would be from one point to the one directly across from it.}

Begin by turning the hexagon over,

wrong side up,

and fold every other corner

to the center,

pressing with a hot iron as you go.

Here's the first corner folded...

and the second...

and the third.

{All three corners meet neatly in the center. It's okay to have a wee bit of overlap.}

Now you've got a triangle.

Take each of the three points,

and fold them to the center,

pressing them into place with that hot iron.

That's so easy, right?

Now tack those center points together
and use a little button to finish it off.

Starting with a hexie that measures 6",
the flower finishes at about 1 3/4" on each side.

I place my hexie on the front of my flag pouch.

I'm sure I'll use this accent for many more projects.

I hope you'll try making hexie flowers, too!

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Big Finish - Winter Dresden Quilt

If you've stopped by my blog before,

or followed me on Pinterest...

or Flickr...

you may have caught a glimpse of my

Winter Dresden quilt in progress.

I joined the Bunny Hill Scrappy Plate Club

way back in January.

{Uh-Oh...I think I was supposed to have a finished quilt by...March 2012.}

I had the wisdom and foresight to make mine a Christmas-y/winter quilt,

so I set a goal that was more my speed...

to finish it in time for Christmas.

{I did it!}

This quilt was soooo enjoyable to make from the free pattern by Bunny Hill.

I had the most fun stitching the Dresden plates,

and I've got a couple of extras for making some matching pillows.

But for now,the quilt is just right for snuggling on the couch

with my little dog, Ginger.

I've had a few questions about how I quilted mine.

I use my regular sewing machine - a Pfaff 2040

that I've had for about 12 years.

I use spray basting to hold my quilt sandwich in place.

I almost never start quilting the same day as I spray,

and I don't have issues with the needle getting sticky.

I use the time-honored "fluff and stuff" technique.

I just focus on quilting the area under the needle,

not worrying about all the rest of it.

The first step is to stitch stabilizing lines,

in the ditch, with matching neutral thread...

along every border and sashing line

vertically and horizontally.

That leaves the blocks and the borders ready for

more creative free motion quilting designs.

I switch to invisible thread at this point,

so I don't interrupt my favorite fabric prints.

I made a petal design on the blades of the Dresden plates.

Then I stippled the centers and around each plate for every block.

{It didn't take that long, and I love how it looks on the back.}

For the skinny border, I just made a wavy line.

For the corners and the centers of the outer borders,

I drew a holly design, then traced it onto some Golden Threads paper.

I made 8 layers of the paper and stitched the design
on the whole stack at once,

with only the needle...no thread...to mark the pattern.

{See the holes making the design on the left?}

Then I laid the paper with the design on top of the quilt and stitched away.  

When I was done, I patiently picked the paper off.

{Yeah...right.  I had some tweezers, which helped.}

It doesn't show up a lot, but it's my favorite part.
Here is a view of the back.

To finish the border, I added my OTHER favorite part...

lots of free-form feathers.

{The Scrappy Plate Club pattern used scalloped edges,

but I kept mine straight instead, since this is a lap quilt.}

I like the binding print, which matches the skinny border.

I am just delighted with my new quilt, and the fond memories of 2012.

Linking up to Sew Well Maide's
TGIFF Linky party!

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